Music & Movement group for babies, toddlers & beyond
Our sessions
"“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”". Victor Hugo
Our classes are divided by age into Quavers, Crotchets or Minims. Take a look below for more information on what that means for the sessions and your child. If however you have different aged siblings we'll do our best to accommodate your needs for both ages.
What makes Twinkle Toes unique is that we offer you the chance to make up missed classes due to sickness or holiday on other sessions during the week so you needn't loose out if your little one is poorly!
Quavers
The focus is on a gentle introduction to music and sounds. It is a great first activity to do with your little one to strengthen the bond between you both. It helps to develop eye contact and communication skills through gestures such as smiling, giggling, waving, bouncing and cuddling.
You may like to lie your baby on a blanket and play the instruments above their heads. They will be stimulated by the sounds and rhythms made. Older babies will want to grasp the instruments and can be helped to play them safely. All this helps to develop their gross and fine motor skills.
We explore various movement songs, young babies can be rocked on their adults lap and older babies can be helped to join in the actions. We always encourage vocalization whether it is growling, woofing, and mooing or saying hello.
In drum time (with our small drums or large gathering drum) the babies enjoy the vibrations with their hands and listening to the drum rhythms. We introduce them to quiet and loud sounds.
During our free playtime babies can wriggle, crawl and walk to explore a variety of balls in different colours, textures and sizes. Adults can socialise with each other and enjoy playing ball with their little ones.
Finally we play with the parachute, this is a wonderful resource to encourage babies to communicate with each other. We engage the babies in smiling, waving, laughing and vocalizing.
Crotchets
By the time you move up to the crotchet class your toddler will be finding their feet. We encourage them to be more independent in this session but only if they are confident enough to be so. The children often collect their own bags of instruments.
Developing sharing skills is key to this stage. We share the rabbits, props, toys, drum beaters etc. The children take a more active role in playing their instruments and singing. They begin to join in vocally, starting with simple words and phrases, rhythms and rhymes. We offer great encouragement for them to sing and play along using role-play and action songs to help. Their coordination really starts to develop too with holding and playing the instruments; we work on this with different actions and ways of playing. We introduce the claves into this aged group session and begin to explore different contrasts e.g. fast/slow, loud/quiet.
Bringing the balls out is always a highlight. They enjoy socialising with other children and adults as they roll, throw and bounce the balls. At the same time they begin to develop their spacial awareness skills. Tidying the equipment away is an activity in itself; the children particularly love doing this and enjoy being a helpful member of the group.
Our large jungle drum is great for developing children’s confidence and independence. After their turn we help them to share the beaters with a friend, this can be tricky, but with lots of praise and patience they soon become very good sharers.
The parachute continues to encourage many communication skills, as we lift it up we focus on different words or actions. Songs will now involve directional language, various contrasts and good cooperation.
Minims
Our older class focuses very much on key skills for school and getting ready for that very important stage in their lives. Both of us have been classroom teachers for many years. The structure of Twinkle Toes Music has developed from our experience of working with children of all ages and in many different settings. All our planning links closely to the Early Years Framework.
The children will naturally now organise and play their instruments independently. They may well choose to sit with a group of their friends rather than with their adult. We start to engage the children to look at the educational elements in songs with a strong focus on counting, colours, sorting, rhyming words, simple scientific processes, predicting etc. The children now have an increased knowledge of nursery rhymes and songs, which in turn will enhance their reading skills.
When using our drum we play structured sharing games and the children become used to playing it in front of their friends. This builds up their self confidence and then gives them the experience of performing to a small audience. We encourage the children to listen to their friends playing too as they wait for their turn.
During ball play the friendships they have formed leads to cooperative and imaginative play amongst themselves.
There is now more active participation with our parachute. We use it to reinforce the actions in songs and explore different contrasts. We build up to group circle games, role-play songs and always encourage the children’s listening and cooperation skills.
Anthea and I always work together. Twinkle Toes Music is a popular session for parents with twins or siblings. The activities will appeal to all ages. We offer sibling rates and are always happy to give a hand. Sign up for a half term block (6/7 weeks) and take advantage of an early booking discount.
We offer the flexibility of being able to make up a missed session at any of our locations during the week.
Where we're at
-
Monday mornings at the Guide Hut, Stanpit, Mudeford BH23 3ND.
-
Monday afternoons at Phoenix Children's Centre, Culver Road, New Milton BH25 5SY
-
Wednesday mornings at Saint Edmund Campion Church Hall Castlepoint, 481 Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9TN.
-
Friday mornings at The Priory Hall, Christchurch BH23 1DB.
Our classes are divided into different age groups as above